Pocono resident on cruise ship with 'violently sick' passengers

Tuesday

Jan 28, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Pocono residents are among those passengers on a stricken Royal Caribbean cruise ship, which on Sunday ended a 10-day trip in the Caribbean early after hundreds of passengers and crew members were sickened with gastrointestinal illness.

CHRISTINA TATU

Pocono residents are among those passengers on a stricken Royal Caribbean cruise ship, which on Sunday ended a 10-day trip in the Caribbean early after hundreds of passengers and crew members were sickened with gastrointestinal illness.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said early Monday that 577 of the 3,050 passengers aboard the 15-deck ship reported getting sick during the cruise that left Bayonne, N.J., last Tuesday.

Forty-nine crew members also reported feeling ill, according to Bernadette Burden, a spokeswoman for the CDC. She said the CDC team will remain on board the ship until the vessel returns to the United States later this week.

By that time, cruise passengers were starting to recover from the illness, which is believed to be the norovirus.

Star decided to book the cruise as a way to celebrate her upcoming birthday and recent retirement from East Stroudsburg University, where she worked as an assistant professor in the library.

It was the second day of the cruise, on Wednesday, when people began getting "violently ill," she said.

"I'm OK, but my cabin mate got violently sick," she said.

When she and her friend arrived at port in Bayonne, N.J., it was snowing heavily. The crew acted quickly to get people on the boat and out of the cold, Star said.

She wonders if the rush to get everyone on the boat had something to do with the outbreak.

The cruise staff has spent the rest of the trip thoroughly disinfecting the ship, according to media reports.

"No, this wouldn't discourage me from taking another cruise. Things happen," Star said, when asked if the experience would turn her off from going on another cruise ship.

"New reports of illness have decreased day-over-day, and many guests are again up and about. Nevertheless, the disruptions caused by the early wave of illness means that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expecting," said the Miami-based Royal Caribbean in a statement.

The decision to end the trip came after consultation between CDC officials and members of the cruise line's medical team, the company said.

Tests would have to confirm what caused the outbreak, but fast-spreading norovirus is often to blame for similar symptoms sweeping close quarters like those on cruise ships.

Royal Caribbean said special cleaning products and disinfectants proven to kill norovirus were being used to clean the ship before it returned to the U.S. It said a full sanitization program would be carried out after the Explorer of the Seas reached its home port Friday.

Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. is also one of those aboard the ship. Panto, who is traveling with his wife, Pam, and friends Silvio and Robyn Coccia of Bethlehem Township, told the Easton Express-Times that his group is feeling fine and making the most of it.

The Associated Press and Easton Express-Times contributed to this report.